1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods of treating individuals suffering from a variety of conditions wherein inhibiting reuptake of norepinephrine provides a benefit. In particular, the present invention relates to methods of treatment comprising administration of a compound, such as (S,S) reboxetine, to an individual, wherein the compound has a high pharmacological selectivity with respect to norepinephrine reuptake sites compared to serotonin reuptake sites. The present invention also relates to a composition containing the compound and to a preparation of a medicament containing the composition.
2. Brief Description of Related Technology
Many types of depression, mental, behavioral, and neurological disorders originate from disturbances in brain circuits that convey signals using certain monoamine neurotransmitters. Monoamine neurotransmitters include, for example, norepinephrine (noradrenaline), serotonin (5-HT), and dopamine. Lower-than-normal levels of norepinephrine are associated with a variety of symptoms including lack of energy, motivation, and interest in life, Thus, a normal level of norepinephrine is essential to maintaining drive and capacity for reward.
These neurotransmitters travel from the terminal of a neuron across a small gap (i.e., the synaptic cleft) and bind to receptor molecules on the surface of a second neuron. This binding elicits intracellular changes that initiate or activate a response or change in the postsynaptic neuron. Inactivation occurs primarily by transport (i.e., reuptake) of the neurotransmitter back into the presynaptic neuron. Abnormality in noradrenergic transmission results in various types of depression, mental, behavioral, and neurological disorders attributed to a variety of symptoms including a lack of energy, motivation, and interest in life. See generally, R. J. Baldessarini, “Drugs and the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders: Depression and Mania” in Goodnman and Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, McGraw-Hill, NY, N.Y., pp. 432-439 (1996).
Reboxetine (i.e., 2-[(2-ethoxyphenoxy)(phenyl)methyl]morpholine) raises the concentration of physiologically active norepinephrine by preventing reuptake of norepinephrine, for example. Reboxetine is a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor and has been shown to be effective in the short-term (i.e., less than eight weeks) and long-term treatment of depression. In fact, reboxetine has been shown to have effectiveness that is similar to fluoxetine, imipramine, and desipramine, commonly prescribed antidepressants, in both adults and elderly patients. See S. A. Montgomery, Reboxetine: Additional Benefits to the Depressed Patient, Psychopharmocol (Oxf) 11:4 Suppl., S9-15 (Abstract) (1997).
Antidepressant drugs are sometimes divided into “generations.”The first generation included the monoamine oxidase inhibitors (such as isocarboxazid and phenylhydrazine) and tricyclic agents (such as imipramine). The second generation of antidepressant drugs included compounds such as mianserin and trazodone. The third generation has included drugs called selective reuptake inhibitors (e.g., fluoxetine, sertraline, paroxetine, and reboxetine). Those drugs were characterized by relatively selective action on only one of the three main monoamine systems thought to be involved in depression (i.e., 5-HT (serotonin), noradrenaline (norepinephrine), and dopamine). APP Textbook of Psychopharmacology (A. F. Schatzberg and C. B. Nemeroff), American Psychiatric Press, 2d. ed., (1998); Lexicon of Psychiatry, Nuerology and the Neurosciences (F. J. Ayd, Jr.) Williams and Wilkins (1995). The antidepressant efficacy of reboxetine is evidenced by its ability to prevent resperine-induced blepharospasm and hypothermia in mice, down regulation of β-adrenergic receptors and desensitization of noradrenaline-coupled adenylate cyclase. See M. Brunello and G. Racagni, “Rationale for the Development of Noradrenaline Reuptake Inhibitors,” Human Psychophramacology, vol. 13, S-13-519, Supp. 13-519 (1998).
According to a survey by Brian E. Leonard, desipramine, maprotiline, and lofepramine are relatively selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors with proven efficacy. These materials increase brain noradrenaline and thereby function to relieve depression. Mianserin and mirtazepine also show antidepressant-like effects by increasing noradrenaline availability by means of blocking the pre-synaptic α2-adrenoceptors. Still further, oxaprotiline, fezolamine, and tomoxetine are potent and selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors that lack neurotransmitter receptor interactions and, thus, do not cause many of the side effects characteristic of classical tricyclic antidepressants. See Brian E. Leonard, “The Role of Noradrenaline in Depression: A Review,” Journal of Psychopharmocology, vol. 11, no. 4 (Suppl.), pp. S39-S47 (1997)
Reboxetine also is a selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, which also produces fewer of the side effects associated with the administration of classical tricyclic antidepressants. The antidepressant efficacy of reboxetine is evidenced by its ability to prevent resperine-induced blepharospasm and hypothermia in mice, down regulation of β-adrenergic receptors and desensitization of noradrenaline-coupled adenylate cyclase. See M. Brunello and G. Racagni, “Rationale for the Development of Noradrenaline Reuptake Inhibitors.” Human Psychophramacology, vol. 13 (Supp.) 13-519 (1998).
Reboxetine generally is described in Melloni et al. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,229,449, 5,068,433, and 5,391,735, and in GB 2,167,407, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference. Chemically, reboxetine has two chiral centers and, therefore, exists as two enantiomeric pairs of diastereomers, shown below as isomers (I) through (IV):

Many organic compounds exist in optically active forms, i.e., they have the ability to rotate the plane of plane-polarized light. In describing an optically active compound the prefixes R and S are used to denote the absolute configuration of the molecule about its chiral center(s). The prefixes D and L, or (+) or (−), designate the sign of rotation of plane-polarized light by the compound, with L or (−) meaning that the compound is levorotatory. In contrast, a compound prefixed with D or (+) is dextrorotatory. There is no correlation between nomenclature for the absolute stereochemistry and for the rotation of an enantiomer. Thus, D-lactic acid is the same as (−)-lactic acid, and L-lactic acid is the same as (+)-lactic acid. For a given chemical structure, each of a pair of enantiomers are identical except that they are non-superimposable mirror images of one another. A specific stereoisomer may also be referred to as an enantiomer, and a mixture of such isomers is often called an enantiomeric, or racemic, mixture.
Stereochemical purity is important in the pharmaceutical field, where many of the most often prescribed drugs exhibit chirality. For example, the L-enantiomer of the beta-adrenergic blocking agent, propranolol, is known to be 100 times more potent than its D-enantiomer. Additionally, optical purity is important in the pharmaceutical drug field because certain isomers have been found to impart a deleterious effect, rather than an advantageous or inert effect. For example, it is believed that the D-enantiomer of thalidomide is a safe and effective sedative when prescribed for the control of morning sickness during pregnancy, whereas its corresponding L-enantiomer is believed to be a potent teratogen.
When two chiral centers exist in one molecule, there are four possible stereoisomers: (R,R), (S,S), (R,S), and (S,R). Of these, (R,R) and (S,S) are an example of a pair of enantiomers (mirror images of each other), which typically share chemical properties and melting points just like any other enantiomeric pair. The mirror images of (R,R) and (S,S) are not, however, superimposable on (R,S) and (S,R). This relationship is called diastereoisomeric, and the (S,S) molecule is a diastereoisomer of the (R,S) molecule, whereas the (R,R) molecule is a diastereoisomer of the (S,R) molecule.
Currently, reboxetine is commercially available only as a racemic mixture of enantiomers, (R,R) and (S,S) in a 1:1 ratio, and reference herein to the generic name “reboxetine” refers to this enantiomeric, or racemic, mixture. Reboxetine is commercially sold under the trade names of EDRONAX™, PROLIFT™, VESTRA™, and NOREBOX™. As previously noted, reboxetine has been shown to be useful in the treatment of human depression. Orally administered reboxetine is readily absorbed and requires once or twice a day administration. A preferred adult daily dose is in the range of about 8 to about 10 milligrams (mg). The effective daily dosage of reboxetine for a child is smaller, typically in a range of about 4 to about 5 mg. The optimum daily dosage for each patient, however, must be determined by a treating physician taking into account the patient's size, other medications which the patient may be taking, identity and severity of the particular disorder, and all of the other circumstances of the patient.
Administration of reboxetine, however, can result in undesired side effects associated with drug-drug interactions and in other undesirable effects such as, for example, dizziness, insomnia, lightheadedness, changes in blood pressure, sweating, gastrointestinal disturbances, sexual dysfunction in males, certain anticholinergic-like effects (e.g., tachyardia and urinary retention). It has been found that such side effects occur, in part, because reboxetine lacks a sufficiently high selectivity for inhibiting norepinephrine reuptake. In other words, reboxetine is blocking reuptake of other monoamines, like serotonin and dopamine, to a sufficient degree to contribute to the undesired side effects.
It has been reported that other antidepressants have a high pharmacological selectivity for inhibiting reuptake of norepinephrine. For example, oxaprotiline has a pharmacological selectivity with respect to inhibiting norepinephrine reuptake compared to serotonin reuptake of about 4166, based on a ratio of Ki values. The corresponding pharmacological selectivity for desipramine is about 377, and that for maprotiline is about 446. See Elliott Richelson and Michael Pfenning, “Blockade by Antidepressants and Related Compounds of Biogenic Amine Uptake in Rat Brain Synaptosomes: Most Antidepressants Selectively Block Norepinephrine Uptake,” European Journal of Pharmacology, vol. 14. pp. 277-286 (1984). Despite the relatively high selectivity of oxaprotiline, desipramine, and maprotiline, these and other known materials undesirably block receptor of other neurotransmitters to a sufficient degree that they also contribute to adverse side effects.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a method of treating individuals suffering from a variety of conditions where inhibiting reuptake of norepinephrine provides a benefit, while reducing or eliminating the adverse side effects associated with conventional norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors. There also is a need for a method that selectively inhibits the reuptake of norepinephrine over other neurotransmitters, like serotonin and dopamine. Specifically, there is a need in the art for a highly selective (at one reuptake site), specific (with no activity at other receptors), and potent norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor. Furthermore, there is a need for pharmaceutical compositions containing a highly selective and potent norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor. Still further, there is a need for medicaments containing such pharmaceutical compositions, and the use of such compositions in the manufacture of such medicaments.